The Importance of Feeding on Jesus

Faith in Christ Versus Trust in Temporary Things

So today we're gonna talk about faith. This passage is about faith. We all put our trust in something do we not? Many different things we are being pressured to put our trust in. Maybe it's our careers.

Relationships money even ourselves. The world is full of things begging for our trust. But the question we need to ask is are we trusting in the right thing in? Verses 52 through 58. Jesus uses a powerful image to make his point.

He compares believing in him to eating and drinking two things. We literally cannot live without. Just like your body needs food and water. Your soul needs Jesus's sacrifice. His sacrifice on the cross for eternal life.

He says my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Now we'll see in there and the responses back and forth that. They're just utterly confused and it seems that even some intellectual dishonesty is going on.

He's not telling the Jews to become cannibals. Just think about their response. No, he's using a metaphor to drive home the point that we must fully accept what he did for us on the cross. But back then this didn't sit well with the unbelieving Jews for them the idea of a Messiah Who would die especially in such a humiliating way was just unthinkable.

They couldn't wrap their minds around it. A crucified Savior. That wasn't what they expected. So they missed the deeper meaning Jesus was trying to convey their eyes were Closed to the spiritual reality.

He was showing them. Now you might think Jesus was talking about communion here. But that's not the case. Communion hadn't even been established yet. And if he wasn't talking about I guess if he was talking about communion.

Then everyone who takes part in communion would automatically receive eternal life, right? But that's not the message. Jesus was pointing to something greater our need to put our faith in his work on the cross.

So today the challenge for us is this are we putting our faith in the temporary things this world offers? Or are we trusting in the eternal work of Christ? Because only one of those leads to real lasting life.

Picture picture this you're at a restaurant you order the finest steak on the menu. It comes out perfectly cooked without Mouth-watering aroma and the chef tells you if you don't eat this you'll starve.

Now imagine if you just decided to stare at it to admire it maybe even talk about how amazing it looks. Without ever actually eating it. I guess people do that before you eat. You'll see people with their phone out taking pictures of their food.

If you ever go to eat with me, please don't do that. Like I just want to eat my food the person's like selfie with the steak. It's so weird. But think about it. How long do you think you'd last before hunger takes over?

Well, Jesus used the same kind of imagery in John 6. He wasn't handing out dinner plans. But making a point about where real sustenance comes from. Just like you can't survive without food or drink. You can't have eternal life without putting your trust in the right source him.

Jesus says you've got to consume me my body my blood. Now before we kind of look at it in that literal way or get weirded out about these comments. Let's remember He's talking spiritually here. He's talking spiritually not literally.

His body and blood represent the sacrifice. He was going to make on the cross the very thing we need to truly live forever. The people around Jesus though didn't quite get the memo they were thinking wait eat his body.

Drink his blood. That's crazy. For them a crucified Messiah was a contradiction. How could the King they were waiting for also be someone who would die a humiliating death? They couldn't see beyond their own expectations and their own traditions.

They they were spiritually blind missing the deeper meaning right in front of them. And let's not forget Jesus wasn't even talking about communion yet. No that comes later later. So when he's telling them to eat and drink, he's not saying pass the bread and wine for a church service.

No, he's saying trust in me. Accept my sacrifice and let that be your spiritual food. Faith in Christ isn't like that steak sitting on your plate. You you can't just admire it or talk about it or take a picture and put it on Instagram.

No, you've got to dive in you've got to let it nourish your soul. In verses 52 through 58 We see the end of the discourse between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews following the feeding of the 5 ,000 and him walking on water.

So that you see the importance of feeding on Jesus everlasting life with Christ or Eternal damnation by Christ as Jesus concludes his remarks to the Jews. We'll see the infighting of the Jews. We'll see the implication Jesus makes to resurrection.

We'll see the illustration Jesus gives of his upcoming sacrifice and the illumination from God the father of everlasting life in verse 52. We see the infighting look again at verse 52. Then the Jews began to argue with one another saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat in?

This verse we find the Jews arguing amongst themselves over Jesus's word saying how can this man? Give us his flesh to eat this this moment reveals the blindness of their hearts. For they were concerned with the carnal.

Unable to perceive the spiritual depths of Christ's teaching. Just as they had misunderstood his earlier teachings now again, they are caught in confusion. Trapped by their own unwillingness to look beyond the physical to the eternal truths that he's imparting.

The Jews and their debates exhibit a form of unbelief. That is not merely ignorance. No, this is Obstinacy, this is a willingness to not believe a willingness to not listen. Rather than seeking the truth humbly they contended with one another as if wrestling not with Jesus's words.

But with the truth itself. This disputing spirit reflects the same hardness we see throughout Scripture. When God's people failed to grasp his revelations because they would not bow their hearts in faith.

Their quarrelsome disposition showed that they were not merely inquiring Sincerely into a difficult teaching but Rejecting the very notion that their Messiah would offer himself as their spiritual sustenance.

Now we need to keep it in context and understand that these are Jewish people. The law had forbidden the drinking of blood and the eating of flesh with blood still in it. This is from Leviticus chapter 17 just a few verses here.

It says in Leviticus 17 for the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel No person among you may eat blood and no sojourner who sojourns among you may eat blood.

For as for the life of all flesh its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel You are not to eat the blood of any flesh for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

So that's important for us to understand here in verse 52. The Jews could not move beyond their legalistic understanding of the command. Their earthly minds were fixated on the law. Unable to comprehend that Jesus was pointing them to something far greater Himself as the true bread from heaven.

He was not speaking of literal flesh and blood. But of his sacrificial death that would bring eternal life to all who partake of him by faith. This is about faith. Believing and yet instead of coming to him in faith, they bickered and strove among themselves.

Blocking the very path of life. They so desperately needed. We must learn from their failure. It is not enough to hear the words of Christ. We must feed upon them. Just as our bodies need food and drink to live.

So too must our souls. Feast upon Christ finished work on the cross for our eternal life. There is no other food that can satisfy. No other drink that can quench our deepest thirst and to reject this provision is to remain in spiritual famine.

When Christ offers us his his body and blood his his very life for our salvation. It is not for us to dispute the manner but to humbly receive and partake. To reject this offer is not merely to miss a theological point, but to lose our very souls.

Everlasting life is found in him alone and to feed on him by faith is to enter into that life. But for those who refuse there awaits only eternal damnation. For Christ who is the Savior will also be the judge.

Therefore, let us not follow the example of those who argued among themselves. Failing to see the salvation before their eyes. Instead let us come to Christ feeding on him by faith that we might receive eternal life.

The question is not how but rather will you will you? Will you trust in him? Will you remain in the barrenness of your own striving? The choice between life and death. Blessing and curse is laid before us and it is Christ alone who offers life.

May we feed on him and live? What if a group of people gathered around? Arguing fiercely over something that is a matter of life and death. This is exactly what we see in verse 52, but they're missing the most important point altogether.

The Jews are quarreling among themselves debating the very words of life that Jesus has spoken. They are caught up in their own pride their own Misunderstanding that they fail to grasp the eternal truth standing right in front of them.

They ask how can this man give us his flesh to eat? They mock him bicker among themselves and completely miss what Christ is offering. Eternal life through his flesh and blood and this scene reveals something tragic not just about them.

But but all of us isn't this what we do? We fight we argue we debate about the things of God, but often we miss the very heart of the gospel. We quarrel over doctrines rituals and traditions and in the process we sometimes lose sight of the most basic essential truth of our faith.

Christ crucified. The Jews were offended by Jesus's words because they could not comprehend them on a spiritual level. They saw only the physical but Jesus was offering something far greater. The bread of life the sacrifice that would pay for their sins.

You see the problem wasn't just with their minds. No, it was with their hearts. They didn't want to humble themselves before a Savior who spoke of giving his life for them. They were too proud too stuck in their own self-righteousness to recognize their need for a crucified Messiah and Here's the point for us.

We must ask ourselves. Are we any different? How often do we get caught up in arguments theological disputes or distractions? While neglecting the simple clear command of Christ feed on me. We sometimes debate issues that aren't eternal while neglecting the gospel itself and here's the terrifying truth if we fail to feed on Christ if We fail to come to him by faith and embrace his sacrifice for us.

We will die in our sins. Doesn't matter how religious we are. How much scripture we know how many good works we perform without Christ without feeding on him? We have no life in us. Jesus's words in this passage are not optional.

They are a matter of eternal life or eternal death. He says unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. You have no life in you. You have no life in you. Brothers and sisters. Do you understand the weight of these words?

This isn't just religious language. This is life and death. Christ is the only way to eternal life and apart from him. We are lost. So what does it mean to feed on Christ? It means we must fully depend on him.

Trust in his finished work on the cross and find our life in him alone. It means surrendering our self-righteousness our pride our religious traditions and clinging to Christ as our only Hope. Just as food sustains your body Christ must sustain your soul.

So if you're not feeding on Christ daily, if your life is not rooted in his sacrifice, you're in grave danger. And this we see is the infighting of the Jews. So if you're following the sermon outline in your bulletin the infighting of the Jews, they couldn't get past their own arguments their own Self-importance to see what Christ was offering.

They couldn't get past their own arguments their own Self-importance to see what Christ was offering. Don't make the same mistake. Don't let pride doubt or distraction keep you from the only source of eternal life.

Come to Christ feed on him live and so we see this morning the discourse between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews and in verses 53 and 54 we see the implication the implication. So Jesus said to them Truly truly I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood.

You have no life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. The implication in verses 53 and 54 our Lord presents a solemn and weighty truth after witnessing his miraculous feeding of the 5 ,000 and hearing about his walking on water the Jews though Beneficiaries of his mercy continued in their unbelief and strife.

Here in the conclusion of his discourse with them Jesus lays before them the highest stakes imaginable life or death salvation or damnation. And he does so by calling their attention to the necessity of feeding on his flesh and drinking his blood.

Not in a literal sense, but in a spiritual reality of faith in his atoning work. The context makes that clear. So this is a question that you get asked sometimes if you're a pastor. What does this mean?

Is this communion? And well, just look at the context. Let me point you to verses 63 and 64. Very crystal clear. You should just read a few passages beyond. What does Christ say verse 63 in the first part of verse 64?

He says the Spirit is the one who gives life. The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh prophets nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life, but there are some of you who do not believe clearly.

This is not a literal physical Feasting this is a spiritual reality. So it just really clear in the context there that this is a spiritual reality of faith. We're looking at the atoning work of Christ in verse 53.

Christ declares with holy authority. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you. And this is no mere suggestion, but a commandment. Accompanied by a grave warning.

It is as if Christ and his righteous indignation is saying you mock and scorn the gift of life I offer but I tell you plainly without partaking of me. There is no other way to live. His use of flesh and blood here is a figure representing the totality of his sacrifice the offering of his body on the cross and the Shedding of his blood for the remission of sins.

Yet the Jews hardened in heart could not comprehend the spiritual truth. He was conveying Bound as they were by their fleshly understanding and the limitations of the law which forbade the drinking of blood.

Jesus is warning speaks to all who reject him. Without him without feeding on his life and work. There is no hope only eternal separation from God's grace. We must see this in the picture of the gospel itself.

To refuse Christ is to seal our fate. To reject his sacrifice is to court damnation. Just as the body dies without nourishment So too will the soul perish without the life-giving sustenance of Christ's flesh and blood.

This is the plight of all who do not come to him in faith. But in verse 54 the tone shifts from warning to promise. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.

Herein lies the great hope of the gospel to those who believe to those who by faith partake of Christ's sacrifice. Eternal life is granted and note the emphasis. Those who feed on Christ do not wait passively for life at the resurrection they have it now.

This is eternal life as a present possession. Even while we await its full consummation at the resurrection Christ repeatedly ties the promise of resurrection to eternal life for the two are inseparable.

The fullness of salvation body and soul awaits that final day when we shall be raised in glory. Thus, even as we now live by feeding on Christ our hope is fixed on that future Resurrection when the life he gives will be brought to completion.

Until that day the life we have in him is hidden. It's known only to those who by faith rise above the world and look to Christ. It must be said clearly that this passage does not refer to the Lord's Supper as some have mistakenly Asserted if partaking in the supper alone secured eternal life.

Then all who come to the Lord's table would be saved, but we know that coming to the Lord's table unworthy unworthy manner. Actually brings upon themselves judgment not life. Jesus here speaks of the spiritual feeding on his flesh and blood that happens through faith.

This is a daily a perpetual partaking of Christ. Yet this passage is not about the Lord's table. It does it does point there. You can see some maybe a type or a shadow. The Lord's table is given as a sign.

It's given as a seal of this very truth that by faith we feed on Christ's body and blood. It is not the Lord's table that saves but Christ himself and the supper serves to strengthen our faith in the reality of his sacrifice as a memorial.

Therefore let us not be like the Jews who quarreled among themselves and rejected the life that Christ offered. Instead, what should we do? Well, let us come to him with humble hearts. Feeding on him by faith receiving eternal life that he freely gives.

Only in him is their life life now and life forevermore in the resurrection on the last day. May we never despise the humble means by which he offers us salvation. But rather let us cherish the life that comes from his flesh and blood.

Knowing that in Christ alone is our hope in Christ alone is our life. In Christ alone is our resurrection. Imagine for a moment that you're standing in a cemetery. You're in a cemetery. The hair is the air is heavy with silence.

The tombstones are worn by time and all around you is the evidence of death's Finality. Now picture this in the middle of all this death. Someone comes to you and says I can give life here. I can raise the dead.

I am the source of life and if you partake of me, you will never truly die. How would you respond? Would you scoff? Would you argue? Or would you listen? In verses 53 and 54 Jesus makes a radical and shocking statement.

Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. You have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. He's standing in front of these unbelieving Jews who are spiritually dead.

And he's offering them the very thing they need most life not just life here and now but eternal life the promise of Resurrection the hope that death doesn't get the final word. Yet many of them respond with skepticism confusion or even offense.

Jesus is telling them that without him they are dead. They may be walking and talking breathing, but without Christ they are spiritually dead and Will remain in their graves until the resurrection to judgment.

But with him with his flesh and blood his sacrifice. They can have eternal life and not just eternal life in some vague spiritual sense. Jesus promises resurrection. He says I will raise him up on the last day.

What a wonderful promise. But here's the thing the Jews didn't want to hear it. They were more concerned with their religious traditions their theological debates and their self-righteousness. They couldn't grasp the path to life was through a crucified Savior.

They were offended by the idea of eating his flesh and drinking his blood and many of us today are just offended by the cross. We don't like to hear that we are hopeless without Jesus that we are dead in our sins unless we partake in his sacrifice.

But here's the point. If you do not feed on Christ. If you do not trust in his broken body and his shed blood. You have no life in you. You might look alive. You might go to church. Sing the songs give to the poor.

But if you're not depending entirely on the finished work of Christ for your salvation you are dead there is no eternal life in you and More than that. There is no resurrection to life waiting for you only judgment.

Jesus promises whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has Eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. This is the ultimate hope for the believer. Yes, we will face physical death. But for those who are in Christ death is not the end.

The the grave is not our final destination. Because Jesus died and rose again. So will we? But that promise is only for those who feed on him who trust in him who rest in his sacrifice. Dear friends, I plead with you.

Do not be like the the unbelieving Jews who argued who debated and who missed the point? Don't let pride tradition self-righteousness. Keep you from the life that Christ is offering. He is the bread of life.

He is the only way to the father. If you trust in him if you feed on him, you will be raised to eternal life. But if you reject him if you reject him, there is only Eternal death and there there is no middle ground here.

The resurrection Jesus promises is real. This is the implication Jesus makes to resurrection. It's not just a metaphor. It's a future event that will happen. The implication. It's not just a metaphor.

It's a future event that will happen. The question is will you be raised to eternal life with Christ or Will you face eternal damnation? Apart from his grace feed on Christ. Trust in his sacrifice. There is no other way to life.

The True Food and Drink of Christ's Sacrifice

This morning we see the discourse between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews so that you can see the importance of feeding on Christ. Everlasting life with Christ or eternal damnation by Christ in Verses 55 and 56.

We see the illustration the illustration Jesus says for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. The illustration in these verses we find a profound and vivid illustration from Christ himself.

Declaring the necessity of his upcoming sacrifice. Jesus in the midst of his discourse with the unbelieving Jews Emphasizes what is central to his mission and to the salvation of the world his body and his blood.

Given for the life of sinners. And as he speaks he draws a line between eternal life and eternal damnation. There is no middle ground here. One must either feed on him and live or reject him and perish.

In Verse 55 Jesus affirms that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. He contrasts the sustenance of the soul with that of the body. Just as the body withers and dies without food so does the soul starve without the heavenly nourishment Christ offers.

This declaration is not mere metaphor. But the very heart of the gospel only by feeding on Christ by embracing his sacrifice on the cross. Can we find the sustenance that leads to eternal life? Nothing else in this world will suffice nothing else.

Every other so-called remedy for the soul's hunger leads to death for apart from Christ There is no life. The Puritan Matthew Henry captures the gravity of this truth. Noting Quote, he says we ought to boast with the Apostle Paul that we reckon nothing to be excellent but Christ crucified indeed.

Once we depart from his sacrifice we are left with nothing but death. This illustration points to the cross and Christ's service to mankind in fulfilling the father's redemptive plan of salvation. Couple of supporting scriptures for you.

Philippians chapter 2. Paul writes this to the church in Philippi. He says Jesus emptied himself By taking the form of a slave. By being made in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. And we have to go back to the Old Testament here the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 53. It's where we have our Bible open to.

If you guys ever wonder what scripture is that open to it's Isaiah 53 the suffering servant. Listen to the prophet Isaiah. Surely our griefs he himself bore and Our sorrows he carried. But he was pierced through for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our peace fell upon him and by his wounds We are healed. He had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But Yahweh was pleased to crush him putting him to grief.

He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors and here it is yet He himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. So there you go the the prophet Isaiah was writing about you in the Old Testament about all who would turn from their sin and Return to God and by faith believe in Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins.

Yeah, we have to warn people. We do preach the judgment to come. But we preach the forgiveness of sins in the gospel in Christ's death. We find the banner of our righteousness and the victory over sin and death.

Without partaking of his flesh and blood. We are left to face eternal condemnation. For his sacrifice is the only path to life. It is not enough to admire Jesus or to follow him from a distance. We must partake of him feed on him by faith making his death and resurrection our own.

In verse 56 Jesus goes further stating that whoever feeds on his flesh and drinks his blood dwells in him and he in them. Amazing here. We see a picture of the intimate union that believers have with Christ.

Just as the food we eat becomes part of us nourishing and sustaining us. So too does Christ become part of those who believe in him? There is a mutual indwelling Christ in us. We and him the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

This is not a superficial or distant relationship. It is a deep and abiding union established through faith in his sacrifice. Let us then consider the seriousness of what Christ offers. His flesh and blood are not mere symbols only but the true sustenance of our souls.

He truly gave up his physical flesh and blood. Did he not? He truly gave himself up for us. To feed on him by faith is to receive eternal life. To be united with him to dwell with him to dwell in him forever.

Without this There is no hope. There's no hope without Christ. The Jews who quarreled with Jesus could not see beyond the physical. But we must see with the eyes of faith. We must come to Christ. Embracing his death as the source of life and trusting in him alone for our salvation.

Again, this passage does not merely Reflect or a point to the Lord's Supper. No, though the sacrament serves as a seal of this truth the act of eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood is a continual daily act of faith.

Not limited to the elements of bread and wine. No. We partake of Christ spiritually receiving him into our souls by faith and it is by this Continual feeding on him that we are sustained. The Lord's Supper is a precious ordinance.

But it is faith in Christ. Faith in his once-for-all sacrifice that brings life. Brothers and sisters, let us heed Christ's words this morning. There is no life apart from him. If we would live we must feed on him daily.

Drawing all our strength all our hope all our comfort from his flesh and blood given for us on the cross. The illustration Jesus gives of his upcoming sacrifice. To reject him is to choose death. This is the illustration the illustration that Jesus gives of his upcoming sacrifice.

To reject him is to choose death. To receive him is to enter into the fullness of life now and for eternity. Let us come to him. Let us feed on him. Let us dwell in him and for in him alone in him alone is life everlasting.

Eternity in the Heart and the Promise of Everlasting Life

And here we must deal with the concept of eternity ever lasting life eternal life. King Solomon wrote this in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Referring to God. He says he has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in their heart. Yet so man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. Eternity, this is a mystery. But it says that Yahweh God Put the the thought of eternity into the heart of man.

Every person has an idea that there's something beyond this physical world. I heard a really good illustration about this actually at the conference at one of the breakout sessions I attended a pastor had told me about a conversation he had with his daughter about eternity and he was discipling his young daughter.

She's five years old. He's sharing the gospel with her. And so he's talking about eternity eternal life. And she's asking the question. I think they were at the table and she's eating and she says daddy.

What is eternity? And he says well, honey, that's forever. Daddy, what is forever? Well, honey, that's a long time. It's forever and ever and ever. It's like a really long time. Daddy, what is forever and ever and ever?

And so he's thinking about how to describe this and he there's a famous illustration you may have heard it it's the illustration of the sparrow and the grain of sand and. So this imagine he actually was talking about his life and he was from Los Angeles.

So he said he was telling his daughter they had gone to Santa Monica Beach and he said, okay, honey. There's this little bird. It's a tiny little bird it's a sparrow small little bird and it's flying over the beach and It lands on the sand and it picks up one grain of sand one little grain of sand and it takes that little grain of sand and Flies it all the way to the Sun.

I believe it's a hundred and eighty six thousand miles. I'm not correct. Don't fact-check me while I'm up here. It's a long ways is the point that little bird picks up one grain of sand flies it all the way to the Sun 186 ,000 miles.

Then has to turn around come all the way back 186 ,000 miles back to that same beach and picks up a second grain of sand. Flies all the way to the Sun however long that would take a long time. Drops that second grain of sand off flies all the way back 186 ,000 miles picks up a third grain of sand.

Flies all the way to the Sun. Flies all the way back. It's gonna pick up a fourth grain of sand. And he says honey after that bird would pick up every single individual piece of the grain of sand on that beach.

Then it would fly to every part of the world on planet Earth where there's a beach and pick up every single Grain of sand and he said honey, that would just be the start of eternity. I Thought that was a good illustration.

He said when he told her that she Started crying. Weeping said honey, what's wrong? Why are you crying? And she said daddy, it's just too long. I Can't do that. You think about the innocence of a child.

Too long daddy. I can't do that. And he said well, honey, you won't be alone. You'll be with Christ there in eternity. We have eternal life promised. Freely given to us if we come to faith in Christ and we trust what he tells us eternity and.

So as we conclude we'll look at one more the illumination. This is the final discourse between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews. Verses 58 and 50 or I'm sorry 57 and 58 is the illumination. He says as the Living Father sent me and I live because of the Father.

So he who eats me he also will live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven. Not as the father's ate and died he who eats this bread will live forever. The illumination in verses 57 and 58 we find the culmination of his discourse with the Jewish people there.

We see the glorious truths of his person and work laid before us as the bread of life. But what do we learn from this? How does it shape our understanding of eternal life in him here? We see the illumination from God the Father who through his Son reveals the path to everlasting life.

In verse 57 Jesus speaks of the relationship between himself and the Father as The Living Father has sent me and I live because of the Father so whoever feeds on me He also will live because of me. Christ makes it clear that he is sent by the Father as The one through whom life flows.

This takes us really back to the heart of the gospel John 3. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged.

He who does not believe has been judged already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The Father is the ultimate source of all life. But he has appointed the Son as the means by which life reaches us.

Just as Christ lives because of the Father we too shall live if we feed on Christ. This is the heart of the matter to have life. We must partake of Christ. He is not merely a teacher. He's not merely a prophet, but he is the very bread of life that sustains the soul.

Without him we are spiritually starved and dead, but with him we are nourished unto eternal life. To feed on Christ is to receive him in faith to partake in his sacrifice to make his flesh and blood our spiritual nourishment.

But what does this mean practically? Feeding on Christ is not a single act but a continual daily reliance on him. Just as our bodies need daily food to survive our so do our souls require daily sustenance on Christ.

This is not a superficial or occasional partaking of Christ's blessings. But a constant living communion with him it is to abide in his word. It is to live in obedience to his commands. It is to rest completely and solely in his finished work on the cross as We feed on Christ.

We draw life from him life that begins now and continues into eternity. In verse 58 Jesus reminds his listeners that the bread he offers is Far superior to the manna that his that the ancestors ate in the wilderness.

This is the bread that came down from heaven not like the bread. The father's ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. The Jews were proud of their heritage and they placed great significance on the manna that Sustained their forefathers in the greater context of their whole conversation.